DEVELOPMENTAL ANALYSIS
Personal introduction of childhood-adolescent
Reflective practice is one of the most significant elements of understanding developmental psychology and is very significant in helping us to understand our own development from childhood to adolescent. Having studied and understood that our experiences in childhood and the social structures that we interact with are very influential in impacting our life span development and human behaviour change, I can reflect on my personal development during adolescence and childhood and identify several aspects of my early childhood development that could have impacted my personal characteristics (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2018). Learning about developmental theories in this module has helped me reflect on several aspects of my family dynamics and support structures, and meaningful events in my life that could have contributed to my current state of personal development.
I grew up in a rural setting in Texas, and the social support I had in our small neighbourhood of farmers and horse ranch owners was overwhelming. My family was united for a better part of my childhood, and this made me grow up knowing love and especially confident in life. The love and support I received from my family and the social concern of everybody in my neighbourhood made me grow up disciplined and focused life because I saw many role models that I wanted to imitate in my long-term life achievements. Some of them still impact me today as I work hard towards achieving my life goals. The death of my mom at an early stage of life introduced me to pain, and the support I got from my social structures in overcoming the pain made me who I am today. The pain prepared me and made me a character that can deal with and overcome pain even in my adulthood. In this developmental analysis article, I will discuss the different theories of development to my childhood and adolescent development and relate each theory to my own adolescent and childhood development processes.
Theoretical perspectives of development
Stages of development according to Freud
Freud’s psychosexual stages of development became more relevant to modern literature in the 1900s. Sigmund Freud described human development from a psychoanalytic perspective and argued that human personality is developed out of a conflict between three main elements known as the id, ego, and superego. These three main elements work together to create complex and manipulate complex human behaviour. Freud argued that the component of id is the primary element of human behaviour and is present and evident in a person from the time of their birth. The Id aspect of human behaviour is entirely primitive and impact even basic behaviours such as instinctive and primitive behaviours. According to research by Kendra Cherry (2016), the pleasure principle is the primary element that drives the concept of id in psychosexual development. Although Freud’s principles are not widely accepted today, some elements of the principles and theories are still used widely today and still relate to the common aspect of life. For example, I can relate the idea that the pleasure principle drives the id concept of psychosexual development to my early childhood.
Freud’s theory of psychosexual development explains that it is the element of id make children cry until their pleasures such as hunger and other needs are met. I asked my parents about my early developmental stages, and they told me that I was the type of infants that could scream until my demands were met or satisfied. The ego element of Freud’s principles provides that the id’s desires must be satisfied in socially appropriate ways and realistically. This explains why it was difficult for my parents to please me with going to the park when I desired to visit the swimming pool during my adolescent. At that point in my life, I was cognitive of my desires, and delayed fulfilment resulted in delayed gratification, which made me react differently than expected by my parents. I can relate the element of ego in my development as an adolescent and in the earlier stage of my life.
Stages of development according to Ericson
References
Cherry, K. (2016). The Id, Ego and Superego: The Structural Model of Personality. About. Com.
Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2018). Human development: A life-span view. Cengage Learning.